Welcome to /r/optometry! This subreddit for all things eye related. Wondering how 3D movies work? Ask Here! Whats the Difference between myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism? Ask here! The only rule is please no posts asking for medical advice! If your eye is in pain, this is not the place to ask why! If you are wondering if you should go to the doctor the answer is YES!

I'm currently an undergrad in my sophomore year and work in an optical part time. I've been majoring in Physical Anthropology and minoring in biology with aspirations of medical school. Recently, I had the pleasure of working with a fill in OD while my regular doctor was out on vacation. Talking to him has made me reconsider my MD goals, and strongly consider becoming an OD. This is somewhat of a change for me, considering before I was leaning more towards the road of a Pathologist. I am not yet 100% on this, I do have a few questions. The doctor I work under is not particularly helpful.

Would it be worth my time to become a licensed optician? This is my current job title, but I live in one of the few if not the only state where you do not have to have a license for this. I'm not even sure how I would go about getting a license since my state has no regulation for it. At least, this is what I was told when I was hired.

For medical school, I've gotten advised from most everybody that as long as I have the proper med school prereqs, I didn't necessarily have to major in biology. Is the same true for optschool? From the few schools I've looked up, all of the prereqs seem to be everything I plan on taking right now.

ODs, any regrets about your career choice? Things you wish you had known beforehand?

What kind of humanitarian work is available for ODs? At heart, I am a traveler. I'm alright with the idea of a 9-5 job as long as I can take a few weekend trips here and there, and 1 or 2 big trips a year. The doctor I work under right now seems to be able to get away with this. I would love to incorporate bigger trips into something work related.

Did you or do you find OD school difficult? What courses do you feel might have helped you more had you taken them during undergrad?

I feel like there are a few more questions I have but they aren't popping to mind at this particular moment. Any direction/input/peronalstory would be greatly appreciated!

You don't need to major in Biology for Optometry either. As long as you finish your prereqs you'll be fine. We had engineers, international studies, psychology, and neuro among others off the top of my head.

No major regrets, but the amount you'll make being an optometrist is substantially less than being an MD. but it's still a comfortable living. Check the cost of tuition and living at different schools you would like to attend. Not enough people consider this when they apply, and the debt difference can be staggering and overall the debt can be soulcrushing.

As an associate Optometrist, you'll usually make less than being an owner, but you get to go home and not worry about staff or billing, so it depends on what you want. A lot of metropolitan centers are pretty saturated already, but if you have something special you can offer (like a second language) people will look for you.

There are lots of humanitarian groups. VOSH, Gift of Sight and a few others go around the world and give free exams and glasses to those in need. It's very fulfilling when you give a 70 year old lady her first pair of glasses and she starts crying. Seriously, it's hard not to cry with her.

Honestly, when I did my undergrad in Canada, I took a pretty intense course load, so when I went to school in the US, it wasn't much of a huge jump. But some people did have a hard time adapting and it took a couple terms to catch on. If you can take a perception course or two, plus any neuro courses, they will help a fair amount when you get to optometry. Microbiology, immunology and pharmacology courses help a lot too.

If you have any more questions, PM me, and i'd be glad to help you out when i have a moment (right now it's really slow in the office. 3 no shows this morning already!)

Probably not worth it. It will look good on your resume just that you worked in an optical.

Pre-reqs are basically the same as med school. You will need to take the OAT, which is similar to the MCAT but for optometry school.

Im still in school, but have no regrets yet. One thing that you might want to think about before hand is where you want to live. California and many metropolitan areas are over saturated with ODs so finding a good paying job may be difficult.

There is tons of humanitarian work available. The great thing about these trips is that it is really easy to help because all you need to do in most cases is give out a pair of glasses. Im going on a trip next week to Nicaragua with an organization called VOSH. The clinic plans to see almost 2000 pts over 4 days.

OD school is hard, but I don't think that its too different than any other professional grad school. If you can take spanish in undergrad that might help, for some reason I tend to see a lot of pts who only speak spanish.

That works out, I plan to study abroad in South America in the next couple of years since my focus for Physical Anthropology is mainly in those countries. Learning Spanish is a priority for me already, I didn't think about the patient base that could open up for me. Thanks!

I see no real boost for being licensed, except for resume as seen before.

I majored in engineering for undergrad, and am now a third year OD student.

I am not an OD yet, but am excited to become one in a year and a half. No regrets so far.

I have done work for the special olympics, there is SOSH and VOSH which goes to underprivileged countries. I will be joining the Airforce, and there are plenty of opportunities there as well as an OD.

I would not say that OD school is a cake walk or exceedingly difficult. It will be challenging, and rewarding. I suggest looking over pharmacology, immunology, physiology. I did not have much of those in my undergraduate program.

I currently go to Pennsylvania College of Optometry. Every school is different. We focus VERY heavily on the clinical aspect. Apparently our school starts clinical rotations before most other schools. I have been seeing my own patients for a year now under supervision. I will now be going out on external rotations for another year and a half. I like learning on the job and visually, so this setup is ideal for me. Please feel free to contact me with any more questions.

I graduated undergrad with a 3.3, and my premed office told me i would never get in anywhere. They were horrible. I would not worry about it too much. Volunteer work always helps, but it wasnt a big part of my interview.

If say its a waste of time to get an opticians license, but do learn as much as you can from the opticians you're with bc they don't teach the art of opticianry as well in od school as you learn in the optical.

You don't need a bio major. In fact if I had it to do again I'd get a business degree. I did a very difficult science degree that I'm proud of but what's it doing for me now? Not makin money is what.

One of the best things about this profession is you can move all over and find fill in work easily. I just stayed in a condo at the beach and filled in for some od on maternity leave for $500 per day.

Doing philanthropic work through optometry is also awesome. Check out the Africa projects through optometry giving sight. They work to train locals and set up sustainable clinics !